Verizon isn’t expected to launch the Motorola XOOM for at least another month, but according to a recent report from DigiTimes, Motorola is expecting to ship between 700,000 and 800,000 units during the first quarter of 2011. While those numbers may look somewhat promising, keep in mind that there’s a stark difference between numbers of units shipped and numbers of units sold.

Motorola’s XOOM was certainly one of the best Android tablets that was shown off at CES (though all Motorola really showed were video clips of what Android 3.0 would look like), but we’re not entirely convinced that Motorola has enough faith in the device. Last we heard, Samsung was expecting to sell nearly 1.5 million units of the Galaxy Tab during the last two months of 2010. Yes, the holiday sale rush did help them push out quite a few more units, but the projected sales discrepancy between the two devices is still staggering.

Hopefully the low sales expectations are not due to a launch delay or extremely high retail price. The Motorola XOOM’s success will greatly depend on its price point and the amount of time it’s on the market before competing devices from LG, Acer, and other manufacturers go on sale.

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To be perfectly honest, having a functional version of Honeycomb at CES, even partly, would’ve boosted sales a little bit. People would’ve seen snippets of how it works and how well it’s been implemented into the device, much like iPad owners knew how they’d work knowing how the iPhone does.

So the lack of knowledge as to how Honeycomb actually works on a tablet will hurt them in the early stages, but later it should even out.

This number will also depends on the Wifi only version and ATT/T-Mobile frequency support.

The Wifi only version as been “confirmed” by a LATAM Moto exec so unless it ships after Q1, it should be a good chunk of that number…

Now I do hope they release a 850/1900 and 1700/2100 version so everyone can enjoy it. Finally, I hope Google stopped moto from locking the Bootloader and that the “Milestone of the Droid” will not be looked as well!!! I am already craving CM8 on this puppy =)

Ummm… how the heck if Google going to stop Motorola from locking the bootloader on this thing? This is not a Nexus branded device which means Google has no say in anything here. Motorola may be working closely with google to be the first to have a Honeycomb tablet, but that’s about it. Android may be Google’s baby, but it’s an open platform with no stipulations about hardware or software altercations.

The arrangement may be similar to the arrangement Google and Motorola had with the Droid, where the two companies work closely together, and keeping the bootloader unlocked may have been a condition by Google. The original Droid bootloader was unlocked, if you recall. Motorola in turn gets to launch the first Honeycomb device.

Even with all the hype about this product, I still don’t see what’s so appealing. LG, Acer, and HTC are expected to have Honeycomb tablets on the market by June (at the latest). Yeah, the XOOM will be the first to market, but that’s not always a good thing.

I’ll be holding out until we hear something from HTC. I love their phones and I’m sure they would put out a top notch tablet as well.

The reason why you should be more excited for this device rather than those from HTC, LG, etc., is that this is the device that Google had in mind while developing their new tablet-friendly OS. Andy Ruben stated this fact while at All Things Digital’s mobile conference. Every google dev working on honeycomb has a xoom dev tablet, and is checking their work against it. To that end, they are ensuring that the experience you have on that device is a true and direct expression of their intentions and vision.

All hardware is not made equal. From things like the positioning of cameras, speakers and ports, to sensitivity of sensors; these are things that google devs are currently measuring against on the xoom. In the short term, the best honeycomb experience will no doubt be on the xoom; much like how initially the best android experience was on the nexus one.

Assuming that Q1 ends at the end of March, and the XOOM probably launches mid to late Feb, those numbers are actually pretty good. Also, I’m not sure if it’s only launching in the US on Verizon, or if it is a worldwide launch, like the Galaxy Tab?

How bout your an idiot. This article is on the Xoom, not the freaking iphone. Please stay on topic or keep your mouth shut.

I don’t know how accurate these #’s, nobody does, the thing doesn’t even have a launch day set. All I know is that I will be buying 1 of those 700,000. You all can wait for the other manufacturers to come out with one, I’ve loved all my moto android phones, so im on board.

For starters, as an “idiot”, I can differentiate between “you’re” and “your”. I wonder who the big idiot is now. All I’m asking for is a small editorial from their bloggers. Most Android blogs I’ve been visiting today have written something and since I visit AndroidandMe a lot, I just wanted to hear their view points. If that is in some mysterious, unknown way offensive to you then read the next words carefully: I. DON’T. GIVE. A. FLYING. F*CK.

Idk if this is a bit off topic here, but why don’t Google use their android OS on their computers instead of chrome or better yet, why not fuse them? i don’t like the idea of not having a desktop and by what i see on the xoom running honey comb that would look really great on a computer and Google would probably have a better success with that than the chrome OS.

WHAT? You are kidding me…RIM the real iPad killer atm? you must be joking.
As much as i dont like moto products i think the xoom would be a hit largely because of Honeycomb.
For me i’ll wait for HTC to see what they have in store,then i can decide.
And the high price for the Xoom in the UK is a turn off for me,,don’t think they can justify that high price for a tablet,i’d rather go for a laptop

I like the look of the playbook too. Currently I am not in the market for a tablet, but come Q2 who know what might be available then, processors, hardware, quad core processors OK last one was wishful thinking.
I can’t but help wondering why it has taken Google and the manufactures so long to come up with a successful tablet, when the world and his aunty, knew that Apple would release some kind of Tablet soon. By late 2009, the iPad’s release had been rumored for several years. That has come and gone and everyone is still playing catchup, were they waiting to see if it was a success or not?
At the moment the iPad has some of the best apps available, while Android are making do with phone apps on a larger screen.
Down, caught, Pants in any order Google!

I love the look of the tablets and i want to see more of Honeycomb but to me( and this may be off topic) i think the Moto Atrix with that laptop accessory seems to the next best thing. with the ubuntu like operating system and still be able run your phone. thats practically as good as a laptop/netbook and a tablet. But again i love the look of the Tablet and i might still consider buying one since im on contract with verizon till august anyways